Smoak in your eyes
by thegirlwhocan
Summary: After a fight with Oliver, Felicity quits her job at Queen's Consolidated and her place on the team; after a chance encounter with college buddy Ted Kord, she takes a job at his company Kord Industries. But will she find another secret? (Apparently the Arrow writers wanted Ted for s3 but DC refused, so they had Ray Palmer instead. This is the crossover that could have been.)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **_I own neither DC nor Arrow. I wish I did, buddy, because if I did this would definitely happen. _

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**'Prologue'**

Felicity was done.

Over the years she had taken a lot of crap from Oliver, and taken it without complaint because she knew he had a lot to deal with, but enough was enough. She had shouldered his sharp words and cutting remarks whenever he was pissed and she was the only one around – but not this time.

It had been getting worse for weeks. Ever since his ex-buddy turned psychopath with a vendetta Slade Wilson had shown up, Oliver had acted like the world was ending. He hardly smiled anymore, he refused to let Sara leave his sight and every waking moment was dedicated to saving the city. She doubted he had slept at all in the past two weeks. His moods became more frequent and darker, too. Like even after years of being free of it, all it took was one face from the island and Oliver was back there again, trapped and resentful and lashing out at the world.

She and Diggle tried to understand. But he had been snapping at them all week, and she was frankly growing sick of it. Whining wasn't going to stop Slade – fighting was; they weren't a team anymore. Oliver was a bomb. They knew he was on the verge of exploding – and they would all get hurt when he did.

The mission had gone south quickly, even for them. He had been trying to take out a black market arms deal in the Glades with Sara, who was constantly at his side these days, but they all underestimated who they were dealing with. The men were armed with missile launchers, military grade – which suggested they were more than your average smugglers. What should have been a simple mission of breaking up the operation before carting the people involved off to Iron Heights prison turned sour when they blew up a skyscraper.

It was only a small one, but apparently it was Felicity's fault for not redirecting the projectile. This was a big defeat for them because they suspected Slade was funding the operation. The Arrow had returned to base dirty, streaks of grey woven through his hair with ash and a large gash on his side. He was bleeding, his suit ripped with a glare on his face. Roy followed a little reluctantly, avoiding their eyes and quietly starting to pack his things away, although he winched when the shouting started - they were at it again. Oliver was yelling at Felicity and if she were a more violent person, she would have hit him by now. Roy would have.

"I can't believe you let this happen!" Oliver shouted, pacing in front of her. He wasn't angry at her, not really. The world in general had just treated him badly tonight, and although he blamed himself the most, the thought that there was something she could have done whispered harshly in the back of his mind. So he lashed out – it was what he was good at. "What came over you? You should have been able to stop this."

"I'm sorry, but literal rocket science isn't exactly my expertise," she snapped back, one hand on her hip and standing her ground before him, chin jutting upwards. Felicity was one of the few people not afraid to stand up to Oliver, an old spark of defiance she'd had since the early days and refused to let die. "I tried hacking into the missiles to re-route them, but it happened too fast. There was nothing I could do."

"Then work faster."

"You let them get off the shot in the first place," Felicity argued, her right hand jabbing in the air accusingly. ornate silver ring on her index finger glinting in the light. She saw Oliver tense at the movement, becoming agitated as he stopped pacing to stand deliberately in front of her. He knew how she usually reacted when he invaded her personal space, but this time Felicity stood her ground. Her clothes that night were a black shirt and shirt, but her eyes were just as dark as she glared up at him, "So don't you dare put this all on me. I did my best."

"It wasn't enough."

"Maybe not," she said coldly, "but neither was yours."

Oliver froze at that. His glare was aimed at her now, making even Felicity look down to play with the fabric of her sleeves, both of them tense and annoyed – and about to go too far. "Excuse me?" he demanded, voice taking on an edge.

"You heard me."

"Guys, both of you need to cool down," Diggle suggested, jumping in. He had been waiting to drive Oliver to the hospital when they'd started getting into it . . . again. It seemed to be happening more often recently. Ever since both Slade and Sara had returned to Starling, his friend had started to change; Oliver was getting more and more tightly wound. And unfortunately for Felicity, he usually found a way to take it out on her. Diggle walked between them to hold his hands up peacefully, putting a hand on the girl's back, "Felicity, why don't you head home for the night."

"Thank you, John."

"No!" Oliver interrupted, "she can stay here until we get another lead on the arms dealers."

"Oliver, don't be ridiculous. We're all fried. It will wait till tomorrow, trust me," Diggle commanded in his most serious tone, crossing his arms and standing in front of Felicity protectively now, eyes on Oliver. "She's going home."

"People were hurt tonight, Diggle! Sara's in hospital – we need to catch these guys quick."

Felicity spoke up, "then shouldn't you be at the hospital with her?"

"The mission comes first."

"Do you even have a heart, Oliver Queen? After everything Sara's done for you -"

"Why do you care about Sara?" Oliver snapped, as Diggle threw his hands in the air and began to pace, seeing neither of them were going to back down. The Arrow moved to stand in front of Felicity once more. "Ever since she came here, you've been too busy acting jealous to pay attention to anything else!"

"Jealous?"

"Of me and her!"

Felicity laughed, but there was no humour in it. "Someone's a little bit self-important tonight. The world doesn't revolve around you, Oliver, no matter how much you act like it. I'm not jealous of Sara – and even if I was because let's face it, she's awesome and can kick ass – I would _never_ let someone get hurt on purpose."

"Don't act concerned all of a sudden-"

"She's my _friend_!" Felicity shouted, finally raising her voice and taking an angry step in his direction. "I have her back, and I know she has mine – I'd never want her to get hurt!"

"But you let it happen tonight."

"Playing the blame game now isn't going to change anything. Don't hold me to fault for _your_ failures – I know I did everything I could. Sara knows that too," Felicity yelled, her eyes glistening now. Her face crumpled a little as her anger subsided to sadness – she couldn't take this anymore. He was wearing her down too hard. For a moment, Oliver saw her reach the end of her tether, realizing too late he had made a mistake. "She is my friend, no matter what. I thought you were too, Oliver. Guess I was wrong. Friends don't treat friends like this."

She turned before she could start crying, although her lip trembled through the last part, she refused to let it show just how much his words cut her up. He might as well have punched her. It would have hurt less.

"I was wrong, too," Oliver called after her. Felicity turned, thinking he might apologise and go back to being her Oliver again, who laughed when she babbled and wasn't cruel, but Slade was still in the city, and he had changed. His tone was cold. "I thought you were the best; that you could handle this. But tonight_ you_ failed the city. I brought you onto this team because I needed you – the city needed you. If you're no longer able to perform your duties . . . what's the use of you?"

"Oliver, stand down!" Diggle shouted, pushing Oliver away from Felicity, breaking the two's eye contact. The girl recoiled as if she had been slapped. A few tears slipped down her face as she froze, unable to look away as Oliver was swept aside by Diggle, who was in her vision, hand on her shoulders and speaking, although she couldn't hear a word he said.

"Is that all I ever was to you? Someone to be used until I wasn't necessary anymore?" she asked tearfully, voice cracking as she strode past him until she could see Oliver again. Even he looked appalled at herself, blinking hard and opening his mouth like he was trying to say something, but she cut him off before any words could come out. "I thought . . . I thought I was your friend. I thought we were . . ."

Felicity trailed off as she began to shake, a few more tears falling down her face. She wasn't going to do this anymore. Wiping the wetness away with the back of her hands before straightening, back straight and eyes determinedly on his, Felicity spoke again. "I quit."

She turned and walked away before anyone would say another word.

"Felicity . . ." Oliver breathed as she left, watching her ponytail swish from side to side before she disappeared up the stairs to the club. A blast of music cut through the Foundry as she opened the door, but was cut off abruptly when it slammed behind her, jerking him to his senses.

As Oliver moved to follow her, a hand caught him by the shoulder; he turned to see Diggle shake his head with a frown. "Leave her. You've done enough, Oliver."

The disappointment in his friends tone was scary. Oliver slowly nodded, moving out of the grip until he walked to the computer, bone tired, and slumped against the desk. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"Then what exactly did you think you'd achieve with that? Scaring her half to death?"

"No! Of course not. I don't want to hurt Felicity, or for anyone else to hurt her, and I was stupid, okay? She makes me scared because I couldn't stand it if anything happened to her. I don't know why I acted like an ass tonight."

Diggle finally understood, even if Oliver didn't. Quietly he turned to face his friend. "You're pushing her away because you're worried about her now Slade Wilson is back."

"No, I'm . . . well, maybe . . ." Oliver protested feebly, shrugging. "Slade is my worst nightmare. He will hurt anyone and anything to get to me – and destroying her to do it? He'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Oliver, we're always in danger. It comes with the territory;" Diggle said frankly, "both me and Felicity knew what we were signing up for."

"But if she dies at his hand – that's on me. And I couldn't live with myself," Oliver revealed, finally looking up with determination in his eyes. He hadn't realised he was doing it, but now he did, pushing Felicity away seemed like the perfect way to protect her. If she quit – at least she'd be safe from Slade. "It's better she lives hating me than dies because we were . . ." he trailed off with a cough, standing again. "I'd better get to the hospital. She was right – someone should be there when Sara wakes up."

"Oliver," Diggle's voice called after him as Oliver's feet hit the steps, and he stopped to listen. "It should be her choice whether or not she does this. If Felicity found out you'd deliberately pushed her away to keep her safe she'd never forgive you. If you do this, if you let her walk away . . . we could lose her forever, man. _You_ could lose her."

Oliver sighed heavily, pausing for just a second longer. "If Slade get to her, I'll lose her anyway. At least this way she has a chance to live her life happily."

"She won't be happy. She'll blame herself or spend every day thinking about us and this place – you don't just move on from something this big."

"She'll survive," Oliver said, still not turning around as he began to ascend the stairs once more. This time, he did not turn back. His heart was beating in his chest, a kick to his ribs every time; he didn't want to do this. The thought of Felicity leaving, of her hating him – it killed him. But it was better than seeing her dead, or standing over her grave or –

Oliver forced the thoughts away. He would not let that happen.

Even if the cost was losing his girl.

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**A/N: _so this is my second arrow fic and I'm still working on ironing out all the characters and getting them right. Oliver was always a bit of a jerk when he's angry, especially in season one, so with all the tension of Slade returning I figured it wasn't too unrealistic for a fight like this to build. Plus, I needed Felicity to quit to start this story. This is just a short prologue, the main chapters should be a bit bigger! Ted and Kord Industries are coming, I promise. And before I get started: this is not a Ted and Felicity fic as a romantic pairing. Who needs romance when you can have the cutest pair or nerdy, super-smart tech-loving gadget-inventing, superhero-by-night, scientists-by-day best buddies. It might however be olicity later. I'll decide as I go on. Anyway, let me know what you think please! _**


	2. Fight fire with gasoline

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I owned the CW or DC, we'd have an Outlaws and a Birds of Prey TV show faster than the Flash can run around the globe.**

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**'Fight fire with gasoline'**

The very next day, Felicity walked into Oliver's office. Unlike any other day, her entrance was not accompanied by a smile or met by one, in fact neither met the others eyes as she crossed the room. Felicity kept her head resolutely up, whereas Oliver looked down, pretending to read the document in his hands. It might as well be written in gibberish for all he was paying attention.

Really, he was watching Felicity from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be stalling as she walked in, the usual skip in her step replaced by a weary tread, feet hardly lifting off the ground. Her eyes were tired as if she hadn't slept, the dark eyeliner mostly hiding that they were red-rimmed, but Oliver noticed anyway. Felicity had been crying. Even her coat was black, a long one reaching down to her knees and zipped up fully – she obviously had no intention of sticking around. All of her colour was gone.

When she got to his desk, Felicity slowly pulled her Queen's Consolidated ID badge from her pocket and put it on his desk, as well as a folded letter – her official resignation. Oliver glanced up at this, but said nothing, looking down again quickly.

She expected more than that. After an awkward moment of both of them just waiting, her standing before his desk with an indignant look on her face.

"Aren't you going to say _anything_?" Felicity asked after a moment, breaking the silence as she shook her head slightly, her voice shaking only a little as her brow creased. Oliver looked up, careful to make his face still and reserved. She appeared honestly heartbroken. "After all we've been through – this is all I get? Not even a goodbye?"

"_You_ quit, Felicity. "

"Yeah, I quit. But you pushed me to quitting," she told him, edge of anger in her tone. But mostly she was just sad. Shaking her head, she calmed visibly, "it's okay, it's fine. I'm sorry."

Sinking visibly, she shoved her hands deep into her pockets and swung a few times on the spot, not able to leave it like this. Felicity watched him carefully, "I want to thank you, Oliver. You've saved my life a lot of times."

Oliver was surprised at the words. She had seemed to angry only moments before – but now she looked . . . defeated. Or maybe that was the wrong word – accepting fitted her better. Felicity was accepting the end of this. Of their team; their friendship; of them.

He nodded in return, not smiling because he knew he had to stay strong for this to work. She would be safer away from him. This was right – but maybe they didn't have to leave hating one another. "You've saved mine, too."

Felicity smiled then, the edges of her mouth twitching up, but her eyes remained shattered. "We had some good times, the three of us – I won't forget that. Really. Those times meant a lot to me, I'm just sorry it had to end this way. But I just can't do it anymore – everything's changed . . . you've changed," she bit back tears, pushing forwards in a rush so she could get through this without actually crying; Felicity bit the inside of her lip. "I just can't stay anymore when I'm under constant fire. I tried so hard to do something good, Oliver, and I did. For a while, I did. But if I stay . . . I can't take it anymore: the danger and the lying and the _animosity_ in the Foundry sometimes. It's not getting better, either. I have to do what's right for me – and get out before I break and I am _so close_-"

The blonde trailed off in a shaky breath, one hand going to the desk and leaning on it, hardly able to stand. She was trembling. Oliver almost leapt to his feet to comfort her and apologise for everything, mouth falling open as soon as she looked down, face set into shock. He had no idea this was affecting her so badly, the guilt wrapping around his chest and constricting tightly, the air forced from his lungs in the huffs of breath which escaped him silently. Oliver couldn't believe things had got this far.

Maybe she was better off away from him for more reasons than Slade. Maybe she was better off just without him.

When Felicity looked back up, her eyes were bright with tears but sharp; she stood straight again. "Do me one last favour, okay?" she asked, quirk returning to her voice with a shake, "don't do the same to Diggle and Sara. Don't . . . don't push them away and leave yourself alone. You need people, Oliver. People to pull you out of this darkness and back into yourself – and I don't believe you're a bad person, not ever. I know you're just stressed and mad. But don't do it to them – not to them."

She shook her head as she turned to walk away, leaving a lot quicker than she had walked in, like she couldn't wait to get out of there; he didn't blame her. The way she had said those things – it was as if she believed Diggle and Sara somehow deserved _better_ than she did – even though she was the best of them all. Oliver frowned as he watched her back retreat. She didn't believe that, did she?

Then he realised she probably did – because _he _made her feel that way.

Felicity was wrong, Oliver concluded: he _was_ a bad person. He had single handedly pushed away the best thing in his life, the only person who could make him laugh through the pain and carry the entire team to the light. But that was why he needed to do this in the first place.

Because she deserved the world. Felicity Smoak deserved to live a long, happy life and not die at the hands of Slade Wilson. Oliver knew he had to do this no matter how much he was dying inside. No matter if it meant him losing his hope. Or his heart. So as she walked away, he held his tongue – just barely. He wanted to call her back desperately, but he didn't. He wanted to hold on to her and never let her leave, but he couldn't.

He wanted to not love her, so this was all easier and he could sleep at night. That didn't look likely to happen, either.

At the door, she stopped, hand on the handle. "Bye, Oliver. I wish you well with everything – the company and . . . the _other_ stuff, I really do. I know you'll be able to be happy again one day."

After she was really gone, golden hair disappearing around the corner as unseen to him, tears traced their way down her face, he leaned back in his chair and tried to breathe calmly. Oliver felt his heart break just a little as he said two words he wished he never had to.

"Goodbye, Felicity."

* * *

Four days after she quit her job at Queen's Consolidated, Felicity bumped into an old friend: quite literally. With her car.

Really, she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings, but for the last few days she had felt like her head was wrapped up in cotton wool. Everything was fuzzy. For years now, she had certain clarity about her life – she lived in Starling, worked at QC, she lived and breathed that city and spent her nights trying to save it. The only three places she went to were home, work and the Foundry. She worked hard, she loved her friends and her team, and aside from the odd life-endangerment and terrifying incident, she was happy.

All of that was gone now; she was kind of lost without it.

The last few days had been spent catching up on TV she had missed and trying to work out what to do next. Honestly, Felicity still had no idea. All she had was her skills with computers, but since she had spent the last few months as an 'executive assistant' most of her office suspected was sleeping with her boss for the job, Felicity doubted it would be easy for her to get another job in the city. Rumours were vicious here.

And aside from her day life . . . she missed her night life, too. Oliver had been insufferable for months, and she couldn't take him anymore – but she missed the feeling that she was doing something meaningful with her life. By taking out criminals, she had been literally saving lives; she missed that feeling. The thrill. The hope, even, that things could get better.

Now she was spending her night alone and oblivious, like any other person in the city.

These thoughts were her main distraction as she drove out to one of the few job interviews she had been offered, so she didn't see the other car pulling out until it was too late. The brakes were slammed a fraction of a second too late, her car skidding and leaving thick, dark tire marks on the surface of the road before abruptly coming to a stop on impact.

The front of her car crunched into the trunk of the reversing one, flinging her forward in her seat, but not too harshly – she had managed to slow her car a little, and the other car was hardly moving at all. After the collision her car rocked backwards a little until it stopped; Felicity's hands locked on the steering wheel in shock, until came to her senses, quickly unbuckling her belt and attempting to free herself from the car.

It wasn't too bad. The front was slightly smashed in and the windscreen had cracked scattering glass through the car, but it could have been a lot worse. The car could be fixed in a few days.

"Oh, crap," she breathed worriedly. This time she had really messed up.

"Are you alright?" a concerned voice called out, making Felicity jump in her seat, a few shards of glass sticking into her leg as a result. She winced at that before looking up, seeing the driver of the other car running towards her. He stopped at her window, helping to hold the door open as she stepped out, legs shaking as they hit the pavement and thankful of the hand on her arm to steady her.

When she looked up to thank him, her eyes met incredibly familiar green ones under a mop of dark brown hair. She knew him. Apparently, he thought the same.

"Felicity?" the man said, face freezing before breaking out into a grin, despite the fact she had just hit him with her car. His worried tone took a lighter edge, "Felicity Smoak? Or do my eyes deceive me?"

"Ted," she answered in a laugh, her old friend instinctively moving to hug her. Resting her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes and smiled genuinely for the first time in days. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Ted Kord leant out of the hug, his grin infectious, "and you're still trouble."

"I'm so sorry!" Felicity exclaimed, remembering the whole issue of the car crash and running a distressed though her hair, looking at the damages to both of their vehicles. "It was my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going-"

"Hey, it's no problem. What are friends for if it's not to forgive the odd collision?"

"How are you laughing?" Felicity demanded, but found a smile creeping onto her face as well as he just kept grinning at her. She hit him playfully on the arm. The last few years, her life had been so consistent she had forgotten what it was like before she came here; before the team. Now she realized how much she had missed her old friends. Only Ted could come back and make her laugh like that within minutes.

"I'm not hurt – are you?" he asked, and she shook her head. She'd had a lot worse than a few scrapes and bruises over the past months. Ted's gaze scrutinised her for a moment before he too came to the conclusion that she would be fine and nodded to himself, going on, "neither are you and cars can be fixed. If you hadn't have hit me, I would never have seen you. It seems like a good compromise to me."

"But I am screwed with my insurance," Felicity grumbled under her breath, making him laugh again, "bad time for me to have quit my job, huh?"

"You quit?" Ted perked up at the prospect, "you were working for Queen Consolidated, right? I read something about you being Oliver's Queen's PA?"

He raised an eyebrow, silently asking what that was all about. Felicity rolled her eyes in response, "that's executive assistant."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. But you're not anymore?"

"As of four days ago, no."

"Huh," Ted huffed out a breath, seeming to consider something for a moment, eyes unfocused, before he turned to her with another dazzling grin. "How'd you like to come and work for me at Kord Industries? Our R&D department always has a place for you."

"I- what?"

At her shocked face, he offered her his arm, bent at the elbow for her to take. "Come on,for friends I have a rather relaxed job interviewing technique – it's called getting coffee and catching up. What do you say?"

"That we can't just leave our cars like this," Felicity replied.

Ted pouted, "Then let's get them parked! Repairs can wait – this can't."

"Ted, wait!" Felicity called, but he had already run over to his car like a big kid and jumped, in pulling it into the space he had been trying to leave when she hit him. Exasperated, Felicity let of another half-laugh as she did the same, parking a few spaces down easily, although their wrecked cars were causing a lot of attention now.

Ted Kord really hadn't changed at all. I was nice that someone in her life hadn't.

They had met back in college, bumping into one another despite being on different courses, introduced by friends at various parties and all hanging out because they were deemed the 'nerds' on the computers and maths programs. Back then, he had been the smartest person she had ever met – and simultaneously the biggest dork on campus. Ted could have been brilliant if he put his mind to better things, but in those days 90% of his thoughts were either dumb jokes or whatever prank they would pull next.

Because oh yes, their group of friends pulled the best pranks on campus. Brains beat brawn in the war of mischief. There was no way a group of engineering students, computer techies and maths whizzes would fail to construct the most elaborate, well-thought out pranks ever. Everyone knew it had to be them, but then again, they were never dumb enough to get caught either. The five blown-up dumpsters, multiple computer viruses and the famous Halloween incident was proof of their success.

It had been one of the happiest times of Felicity's life. She had been revelling in the freedom of being away from her mother and taking control of her life, actually learning something she loved and laughing with real friends – she'd forgotten how much she missed it.

Of course, she had been happy in Starling, too. At the start it was perfect. But now . . .

For a second as she pulled the handbrake to park, she remembered why she had been distracted in the first place, her guts hollowing out with a sickening feeling that something was missing. All it took was Ted appearing at her window, knocking it and telling her to hurry up to fill it with laughter again.

It was time to catch up with an old, good friend.

* * *

Oliver was in the Foundry when an alert beeped on the computer. Halfway up the salmon ladder, he looked down to Sara, who was in the seat which had once been Felicity's. "What's that?"

"I don't know," she replied frostily, not even glancing up in his direction. Oliver sighed. Sara was out of hospital, but was mighty pissed when she heard Felicity had quit – even more so when Diggle told her the truth about what Oliver had done. She barely spoke to him these days. "It says something about a collision."

"Who's car?" Oliver asked worriedly. A year ago, he had installed monitors in all of their cars, so the others would be alerted if one of them was involved in an accident.

"Felicity's. What does it mean?"

"Oh God," Oliver breathed, dropping to the floor and ignoring the jolt of pain in his ankle. Grabbing his hood, he jerked it roughly over his head and grabbed his bow, heading for the door in seconds. Sara was calling after him, but he drowned everything out but the facts – Felicity's car had crashed. She could be hurt. He had to get there; fast.

Running across the rooftops, Oliver never faltered. Even if he landed heavily or stumbled, he fought to remain upright and keep moving, heart rate increasing with more than exercise – it was fear. With the breakneck pace he was pushing himself at, he was at the scene in eight minutes.

What he saw surprised him.

Felicity's car was damaged at the front; the hood cracked and caved in, windshield cracked. There was another car with the trunk broken and hanging off, but both cars were calmly parked and abandoned – then he saw Felicity walking calmly away. He moved quietly across a few rooftops to get a good look at her: the ponytail she had wore her hair up in was messy now strands hanging lose around her face; there were a few cuts on her hands and one above her eyebrow, but she didn't appear injured in any other way.

The most confusing thing was her smile.

For the last few days, Oliver had kept tabs on her; still worried she was a target despite his new detachment from her. She had spent a lot of time crying, then just staring at walls like she didn't know what to do, going through the motions of living without any emotion. He hadn't seen her smile in days: she was now. Red lips moved freely as she talked animatedly, moving her hands excitedly and actually laughing, peals of joyful sound reaching his ears all the way up on the rooftop.

Frowning, Oliver looked at who she was talking to. The man walking beside her was listening with a small smirk on his face, watching Felicity with humour and genuine interest to what she was saying, hands carelessly thrown in his expensive suit pockets and looking unharmed. He had a shock of dark hair, and where he wasn't typically attractive, with a more normal, nerdy look bout him, the man's strong, athletic figure could be seen even through the stylish cut of his suit, and his smile was bright and friendly.

Oliver told himself he wasn't jealous, but his stomach roared in protest at that, churning and wanting to go and either interrogate that man about who the hell he was or punch him in the face. It was completely irrational and he had no right to feel that way, but liver's hands tightened on the bow until his knuckles were white anyway, his lips tightening in anger.

The two just seemed so comfortable with one another. Even as he watched, Felicity laughed at something the man said and put a hand on his arm, the touch innocent but making Oliver want to throw up. They looked at each other as they laughed, ducking into a warm coffee shop a moment later.

When they disappeared, Oliver knew he should leave. Felicity was obviously more than fine; in fact she was better than he'd seen her in ages, and there seemed to be nothing suspicious about the crash. He shouldn't interfere. But the man appeared familiar somehow, like he had seen his face before . . .

It took a few minutes for it to click: Kord Industries. They had investigated it after the incident with Clock King, finding out it was recently put under the management of the previous owner's son, a young genius who wanted to rebuild the company. Oliver had met him briefly at some charity events, but was usually too distracted for anyone to make a real impression. He vaguely remembered that the man had piercing green eyes which seemed to scan the room and always seemed to be calculating something or another.

It was almost the same way he was. Of course, Oliver was usually scanning a room for threats; he doubted Kord was. More likely looking to see whether people were worth his time.

"Sara?" Oliver asked over the comms, determined to at least check this guy out, for purely protective reasons, "I need you to get me everything we have on Theodore Kord."

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A/N: _Thanks to the people who have followed/reviewed so far! so now Ted is here, Oliver's jealous, and Felicity has been offered a new job. Do you guys want Chicago or Hub City as Blue Beetles home now? He's worked in both so I'm not fussed. I am also very proud to have the bragging rights for the first Arrow/BB crossover story on this site. Did everyone watch Assualt on Arkham yet? I'm feeling re-watching the Suicide Squad ep right now. I'll be posting when I update on my tumblr, so follow me there if you like, or just to chat (wallyallenwest)._


	3. Hooked on a feeling

**Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or Blue Beetle.**

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**'Hooked on a feeling'**

The coffee was bitter, so Felicity lumped about eight sugars into hers, the tiny packets littering the table between her and Ted as she stirred the liquid in the paper cup. It warmed her hands as she held it between them carefully, looking up to see her companion sniggering in her direction.

"What?"

"I can't believe you still do that to your coffee," Ted laughed, taking his own black. It was only then she noticed he looked tired, small rings around his eyes hardly noticeable, but definitely there. Despite this, he was still smiling warmly, "you always had a sweet tooth."

"Shut up," she laughed.

"And still terrible at arguing," He pointed out, making a small smile appear on her face as she tilted her head in agreement, "that's 'cause being mean to people isn't in your nature." Ted stopped joking to look at her for a minute, leaning forward with his elbows on the table to peer at her curiously. He saw right through her. Always could. "But you're angry about something, I can tell. Something's bothering you. What is it?"

She shook her head, dropping her gaze back to the dark liquid in her cup, "Nothing's wrong. I'm peachy."

"Feli-city," he sang playfully, twisting about in his seat until she had to look up and begrudgingly laugh. Once she met his gaze, she was trapped. "Tell your old friend what's wrong so I can kick the ass of whoever's to blame."

"I wouldn't advise that," Felicity countered with a laugh, "I appreciate the offer, but that's a fight you wouldn't win. Oliver is pretty strong."

"Oh, so this is about that asshole? And I'm guessing why you quit?"

At his derisive tone, she nodded, feeling embarrassed. "It really doesn't matter . . . I don't know why I let it get to me; but you don't want to hear about it. We've got happier things to catch up on."

"Whatever it is, it's eating you up inside. I don't mind, genuinely – tell me what happened."

"Oliver is a jerk who made me feel like crap but still I feel guilty for walking away – end of story," Felicity shrugged quickly, spilling out the words in a single breath, obviously unhappy, "I'm just mad at myself for thinking he was my friend. Who was I kidding? He's Oliver Queen and I'm-"

"Felicity freaking Smoak," Ted interrupted her firmly, leaning over to take her hand and squeeze it, his smile more forced with anger this time. Frankly, he hoped he ran into Mr. Queen while he was in Starling – so he could shove his fist down the jerk's throat. _Nobody_ made his best friend feel that way. Nobody.

She laughed humourlessly, "I'm just Felicity, Ted. I'm no one."

"Please," he shouted aloud at that, letting her go to lean back in his seat and just look at her. He could see how she had changed now. Her confidence was shot, but she was still babbling, still smart – still his pal. "You're Felicity Smoak! I remember how you used to be – you we're gonna change the world."

"I'd be happy to just live in it at this point."

"Nah, you're still that girl who wanted to make a difference."

He said it so honestly, without a hint of doubt in his tone. It was so unlike Oliver's criticism that she didn't know quite how to respond for a moment. It was odd for someone to believe in her.

"Says the genius," she eventually giggled, "how's running a successful national company?"

"It's ace, Felicity. And I realize the word 'ace' hasn't been uttered since 1963 in hindsight."

"Dork."

"Nerd."

They glared at each other briefly before Felicity cracked, laughing, "So what have you been up to? Despite taking over your fathers company – congrats on that, by the way. I was so proud when I read about it in the news."

"Thank you," he rubbed a hand through his hair, "it was . . . hard. When the truth came out about my Uncle, well . . . people didn't take it so well." Felicity nodded encouragingly, hoping he would continue. She'd read about that on the news, too. Long story short: Ted's Evil Uncle was involved in some not-so-nice things, and some other masked vigilante had taken care of him, leaving Ted his father's company. At the time, Oliver had wanted to investigate the other mask, but the only reports on him revealed nothing aside from the fact he wore blue. Ted sighed, "It was an adjustment, I'll admit. But it's pretty relaxed over at KI, I can be hands off if I like as long as I don't get into trouble."

"Ouch. I have no idea how you manage that."

"Hey! I am much more mature now . . . for the most part."

At his sheepish look, Felicity laughed easily. "You wouldn't be Ted if you were serious," she pointed out, echoing him, "it's not in your nature."

"It would be useful to have someone with a much more level head, aka yourself, on board though. You could hold me back if I try and do something too ridiculous."

She almost choked on her coffee, "What are you saying?"

"Come and work for me."

"I-I appreciate the offer, but . . . I'm a PA. A bad one. If Kord Industries in this town hires me, people will keep gossiping – it won't be good for your business."

"I wasn't suggesting hiring you here," Ted said simply, "come to Chicago. It's our main HQ, it's where most of our work gets done; I want you as my right-hand woman."

"But . . ."

"You're still the person I knew, the one who could do anything," Ted said confidently, his eyes scrunched up concentration, "And you will – at Kord Industries. Our R&D department is second only to WayneTech at this point, can I proudly point out, so who gives two craps about Queen Industries? You can do better than being a PA! I remember how good you are with computers."

"I'd love to work for you, really I would, but I can't make a snap decision about this," she winced. "I mean, Kord Industries here in Starling was robbed a few months ago for some dangerous things: can you guarantee you're not still making Skeleton Keys?"

He frowned then, his jaw locking angrily as his eyes became momentarily unfocused as he sipped his coffee, not even reacting to the boiling, bitter taste. "That was never supposed to happen. We manufactured that Skeleton Key for government use; nobody was supposed to know about it. I still can't believe that it was stolen – or that the vigilante never returned it. Our company has received reports of that green fella of yours using it."

"-He's not _my_ green-" Felicity interrupted without thinking, not realizing Ted was speaking generally as she panicked, believing he had discovered her involvement with the Arrow. She trailed off and blushed furiously.

"I didn't mean yours, I meant the city's," Ted still looked confused, cocking his head to one side. He paused for a moment, "I heard he saved you once. The vigilante. What was it like?"

"Terrifying," she replied mechanically, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry," he apologised immediately, internally cursing himself – it was crass and dumb to ask, and well . . . him. He was trying to be better, though. He reached over to brush a hand over her shoulder, "I didn't mean to-"

But she was smiling, "its fine, Ted. It's nice to know someone around here is capable of apologising – or feelings in general. I'm beginning to think the apathy of Starling City is rubbing off on me."

"Then leave it."

"Come on, just drop it for now, okay? I'll think about it. But leaving . . . it's a bigger decision than you know."

He held his hands up, downing the last dregs of his coffee with an amused sort of smile on his lips. "Sorry, boss. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't," she shook her head. "In fact, it's nice to have someone believe in me. I haven't been this happy in weeks; it was good to see you again."

"Nobody should make you sad, Felicity. I'm seriously considering kicking Oliver Queen's ass right now."

"Don't pick fights you can't win, Teddy. I thought you'd have learnt that lesson by now."

He snorted loudly, "not a chance."

Of course, Felicity didn't know why he smirked so much at that comment, something laughing behind his dark eyes, but shrugged it off. It had been a long time since they had saw one another – obviously he would have changed a bit since then. She took another careful sip of her coffee, watching him just as intently as he had been her a few minutes ago.

"Ted?"

"Hmmnn?"

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh," his shoulders slumped, "business meetings. The branch of Kord Industries here in Starling might be shutting down; business has suffered since the robbery. I have ten managers telling me it's the right thing to do but, uh, I'm trying to keep it open."

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"To try and save a lot of people's jobs," Ted lied smoothly. He was getting too good at it, which bothered him a lot. Before, he had been honest to a fault – his life had changed a lot since Pago Island. But Felicity couldn't know about that, so he plastered on a smile, "it gives me an excuse to kick about the city for a few days, though. Do you have any plans this week?"

"Um, job hunting I guess." She said, adding sarcastically, "Maybe sitting in my Pj's watching documentaries on Animal planet. Being unemployed is_ fun_."

"Well, cancel those plans – you're hanging out with me for the next four days!"

"Yay," Felicity deadpanned, receiving a slap on the arm in return and laughing into her drink. "What are we doing then?"

"It's your city. What's good?"

"Big Belly Burger," she replied without thinking. Memories of better times spent there with her boys, laughing and feeling part of something greater flashed across her mind; she winced despite herself.

"Sounds great!" Ted laughed, not noticing her discomfort as he got to his feet, shrugging the shoulders of his jacket as he stood waiting for her to do the same before moving. He held the door open for her, stepping out onto the pavement with a smile, handing her a slip of paper. "There's my new number, text me your address and I'll pick you up there at eight. Unless you don't call, in which case I'll be sitting alone in my hotel room, desperately sad."

Knowing he was teasing, she grinned back in kind, "well I'll just have to see, Mr. Kord. I do have a tub of mint choc chip waiting for me at home . . ."

"Ouch," Ted remarked, remembering the ice cream was her go-to comfort food, "as your friend, it's my duty to save you from that. I'll drive around the entire city knocking on doors if you don't call me now."

"That I'd like to see."

"Real funny, nerd. I'm late to a meeting, so I've got to run – see you at eight!"

She raised a hand as he ran off towards his car, smiling to herself. Felicity thought her luck must be on the rise again to have bumped into Ted again, not having realized how much she missed him. Straight away, she text him her address on the number he had given her, fondly saving his name as 'Dork'.

What she didn't know was that there was another billionaire on a rooftop across the street, who had watched the entire exchange with his stomach tied in knots.

* * *

**A/N: I know I have sucked at updating this, but I am one chapter away from finishing my other story, so I'll have more time to update this then. I like writing this though, so I'm not going to rush it. Hopefully you guys are still interested in reading it, and you liked it! I miss Ted Kord a lot. **


	4. Masks

**Disclaimer: I own neither Arrow or Blue Beetle. Surprising, I know, but it's the truth.**

* * *

**'Masks'**

One thing Ted did not to see when he walked into his meeting was Oliver Queen.

Yet there the other billionaire was, reclining in a chair at the head of the table, one leg crossed carelessly over the other, smug smile on his face. That shit-eating grin widened as he walked in, and Ted hated the man infinitely times more in that second.

"Ted!" Oliver greeted, jumping to his feet and approaching him quickly. He stopped just in front of him and extended a hand.

For a good few seconds, Ted just studied the hand in front of him, wondering if this was a dream. If it was, maybe he could punch the smug bastard, just a little bit. But looking up, he saw the intelligence in Oliver Queen's eyes, cold and calm despite his friendly demeanour; Ted knew it couldn't be fake. Even he couldn't dream up a gaze like that.

"It's Mr. Kord," he replied slowly, as Oliver put on a frown, hand dropping to his side. "What are you doing here? This is _my_ building."

"I heard you were in town and wanted to propose a business merger to save the branch of your company here in Starling," Oliver replied, keeping his tone even. "I'm here to help, _Mr. Kord_."

Ted couldn't keep the bite out of his voice, although he didn't try too hard, in all honesty. Who gave a damn what Oliver Queen thought of his rudeness, that asshole had hurt Felicity badly. "Well, Mr. Queen, I think you'd better take your 'help' elsewhere."

"Ted," his own assistant, Angie, pulled him away by the arm, "a word, please."

Although it felt like losing, the newcomer to town forced composure over himself. He couldn't lose it here and start yelling – Ted had gotten good at compartmentalising his life: there was home, there was work, and then there was his night time persona. If he wanted his secret identity to remain that, he had to keep his work life completely focused on the company and not let his fake facade slip.

'Ted Kord' was an eccentric billionaire, but he was kind to his employee's, even if he could be dumb and careless. But he did not shout at meetings; he certainly didn't speak rudely to people he saw at social events and pretended to get along with like Oliver Queen, or risk people's jobs because of his personal opinions.

Business manager Ted Kord wouldn't do any of that, but best buddy Teddy would. He'd definitely do it for Felicity.

He wanted nothing more than to merge all three lives for a second and fracture Oliver Queen's throat in some way so that the jerk never had the opportunity to say an unkind word to anyone ever again.

But that would be very, very problematic.

So he forced out a smile and left with Angie, not daring to speak up in anger in front of the directors present or Mr. Queen. Outside, he could say what he wanted; get the advisor to turn down Oliver in a polite way. There was no way in hell they were ever going to work together.

"What, Angie?" he demanded as soon as they were outside, turning to the girl in irritation. It made her step back a little: Mr. Kord wasn't like this. He was the goofball who just so happened to manage the company – aggressiveness wasn't in his nature. He sighed, feeling guiltier by the second – he wasn't like Oliver Queen, he treated his assistant like a friend. "I'm really sorry, Angie. I just don't want to work with that asshole! We can work this out without Queen Consolidated."

"Actually, we can't. The K.I building here will shut down unless we can get another company to pick up the slack. Mr. Kord, think about it."

"What about WayneTech? I'd rather work with Bruce Wayne than him, and Wayne's a dumb playboy! Hell, I'd even make a deal with LexCorp at this point."

"But this city belongs to the Queen's, Mr. Kord. Their family has too much influence here to just ignore them, even with everything that's gone on recently, they have power. We need him, I wish there was another way – but if you care about keeping your company here in Starling open, we need to make that deal."

Ted sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair in frustration, " . . . is there no other option? What were we going to discuss in this meeting before he crashed it?"

"Before Mr. Queen's offer, we had _no_ other options. The meeting was to discuss saving as many jobs as we could by transferring employees – but we could save _all_ of them with this." She peered at her boss in confusion, not used to see Mr. Kord so frazzled. "Why are you so reluctant to work with Mr. Queen anyway? I don't mean to pry, but it's unlike you to dislike someone like this."

Ted peeked through the fingers covering his eyes, "How much of a selfish douche would I sound like if I told you it was for personal reasons?"

"A little, Mr. Kord, but we've also learnt to trust your judgement. What is it about him that's got you all riled up?"

"I don't like how he treats his employees," Ted answered honestly, picturing Felicity's downtrodden face that afternoon. He hated to see her that way. Besides which, working with Oliver right now would definitely be betraying her, and it hurt him to even have to consider it. But he knew he'd need an explanation, so went on, "you know how it is at K.I – we're a team. I don't think of anyone as being my employee, they're my friends, but Mr. Queen doesn't share my philosophy. He treats his employees like crap until they quit; burns out good people. I don't think it's in our company's best interest to work with a man like that."

Angie studied him carefully for a second, biting her lip. It hurt to look at her, glasses perched on her nose like Felicity's always were. In every other way, they were unlike – Angie was just a kid, round-faced with dark hair. She was also very nervous, having none of Felicity's backbone, but she was also a good kid, like his friend had been when they first met.

"I agree, Mr. Kord, that he doesn't sound like the sort of person _I'd_ want as a boss. But the meeting is to negotiate – so make a better deal."

"What do you mean?"

"Take his money to bail out the branch, but limit his duties as much as possible. Chances are Mr. Queen will be too busy with his own company to have much to do with K.I here, apart from any contractual obligations, so make sure he has as few as possible. You don't have to like the guy, just tolerate him."

Ted looked up at her and smiled, bright grin she was used to returning. Quickly, he hugged her, a look of fierce determination creeping into his eyes. "Angie, you're a genius. There's no way I pay you enough – remind me to give you a raise."

"There's no need, Mr. Kord. I love my job; you're right – you are good to us. You gave me a chance and I'm grateful."

"Kid, you're a superstar," he told her, "never forget it. And call me Ted."

"Shall we, sir?" she smiled back shyly, gesturing towards the meeting room, "You still have a company to run, after all."

"Yes," he agreed, "let's go see how much money we can sucker out of Oliver jerk-face Queen."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

At the end of the meeting, Ted's stomach was twisted in knots. They had agreed for a merger with Queen Industries here in Starling, giving Oliver partial authority over the branch there. He could make minor business decisions and all of the staff of the building would report to him, the new 'regional manager' of the company. It had physically caused Ted pain to give him that title.

Putting his phone on his lap under the table, he text Felicity, ignoring the last few minutes of the meeting – it was just repeating all the things that had been said already. Irrelevant repetitions and politeness. Meetings were tedious.

_Are we still on for tonight? _

His phone buzzed a few minutes later with her reply.

**_Of course, if you are. How was the meeting?_**

_Long story. I'll need to talk to you about that later. _

He sent the reply, feeling dirty somehow, like he had been contaminated by association with Oliver Queen. Ted felt like dirt. He had cut a deal with the asshole that had treated her like she was nothing, a deal with the devil in his mind, and he felt pangs of guilt more intense than tidal waves. Felicity had every right never to talk to him again after this; he wouldn't blame her for it.

**_Ted? What happened?_**

_I am a terrible human being._

**_And not dramatic at all._**

He laughed at that, having to pass it off as a cough when people looked over.

_Felicity, you're a fantastic friend and you deserve better. Please don't hate me._

**_Never, you dork. You can tell me all about it at dinner, but don't beat yourself up over it in the meantime. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can work it out._**

_Yeah, I hope so. And you can give me an answer about working for me._

It took a few minutes for the reply to come through that time.

**_Maybe, maybe not. Give me until you leave for a final answer, and I promise to forgive whatever it is you've done this time._**

_This time?!_

**_You let me take the fall when we painted our lecturer's car purple in third year. I forgave, but never forgot, Theadore Kord._**

Ted really did laugh at that, getting dirty looks from the directors and advisors but not caring this time. He owned the damn company after all; he was entitled to text during the boring parts of meetings, surely? He didn't reply, but chuckled to himself until they called the meeting over, getting to his feet quickly and shifting on the balls of his feet, uncomfortable after sitting for hours.

He hoped his small forms of resentment were enough to convince Felicity that he was only working with Oliver for business.

All the way through the meeting, he sent Oliver scathing looks whenever the man hadn't been looking, even sticking his tongue out at him immaturely once. It wasn't very professional, but neither was he. A few times, Oliver seemed to notice the glares and looked confused, but didn't comment on it if he did see, instead looking away superiorly. Ted really hoped Felicity didn't hold this against him.

He didn't want to lose his best friend.

* * *

Oliver Queen watched Ted on his phone at the end of the meeting. From the little smile on his face at every message, he could only imagine it was from someone important, and felt his stomach drop at the thought it was probably Felicity. But he kept his poker face, approaching the other man at the end of the meeting with a smile.

"Mr. Kord, I'm so glad we could come to an arrangement," Oliver said, false smile plastered over his face. He had taken a liberty with this merger, organising it in half an hour before coming, somehow convincing the directors of Queen's Consolidated it was a good idea without revealing his ulterior motive: to understand Ted Kord.

Ted seemed to have an interest in Felicity, from the way they had laughed over coffee, and that was enough to warrant an investigation by the Arrow.

He wasn't sure how he felt about the other man yet. Ted Kord was an entrepreneur and the way he had turned his company around was impressive – he was a former athlete and a certified genius, who would be intimidating for most people, but Oliver was just suspicious. There was something more to Ted, he could feel it in his gut. He just wasn't sure what it was – not yet.

One thing he had learnt was that the other man didn't seem to like him very much, if the looks sent in his direction every five minutes was anything to go by. It wasn't subtle, but most of all it reminded him of the persona he sent out to the world – but what would Ted Kord need to hide behind a smile and feigned ignorance?

"Great," Ted replied, stressing the word out sarcastically as a false smile of his own appeared on his features. For a moment, however, his face twisted into almost comic irritation at being stopped from leaving. "I really have somewhere to be, Mr. Queen, so if you'll excuse me-"

Although the other man tried to leave, Oliver stepped in front of him, smile stiffening on his face. He didn't know why he did it, but he just couldn't let Ted go. He acted the playboy for a moment, "hot date, Ted?"

"Meeting an old friend for dinner, actually," Ted replied, his smile a lot colder now, "Felicity Smoak, do you remember her? She used to be one of your employee's, until you were such an asshole she quit."

"That's company business."

"She's a friend. A very good friend, in fact, and let me tell you something about my Felicity, Mr. Queen – she isn't a quitter. So you must be something terrible for her to have walked away."

Oliver felt like he had been punched. The weight of the words dropped onto him like a hundred pound dumbbell as soon as they had been spat out by the man in front of him. Ted's jaw jutted out in barely contained anger the entire time, although his face remained scarily happy, tone even light and a smile frozen in place as his icy words cut holes right through Oliver.

He was either a very good actor or very pissed off, but either way, his remarks were working. In all his years, Oliver had never felt guilt as strongly as he did then. But then the other man's choice of words flashed through his mind, and his mouth worked before he could catch up with it.

"_Your _Felicity?"

"Are you serious?" Ted scoffed, rolling his eyes, "don't tell me you're jealous. You are, aren't you? Yes, my Felicity. I use the term fondly, to describe my close friends. People I consider family, Mr. Queen – and I really don't appreciate the way you've been treating my family recently."

Oliver felt his blood boil, "is that a threat?"

"Nope. Just a warning to never be in my presence uninvited again . . . stay away from me and my friends."

"Again," Oliver bit out, carefully holding himself back, "that's between Felicity and me, not you."

"We'll see."

"I-"

"I really don't need you to talk, Mr. Queen. I have no interest in being your friend, or in fact anything but your money, so anything you have to say just became redundant." Ted flashed one more smile, straightening his collar confidently with a smug look on his face, knowing he had won that argument. Turning his back, he added, "I'd wish you a good night, but honesty is important in business, right?"

He walked away without another word, leaving Oliver fuming, staring at his back and thankful he didn't have his bow on him right them. Oliver didn't think he'd have been able to hold back with a weapon in his hand; it was amazing he had kept his head at all. Anyone else and he probably would have punched them on principle.

But there was something about Ted Kord. Somehow, the other man got right under Oliver's skin, seeming to know the exact thing to say to piss him off. It was the wrong sort of anger, though. Instead of being adrenaline fuelled and wanting to rip someone's head off, Ted left him feeling frustrated at being faced with his own faults, not able to blame the other man which left only one solution – blaming himself. Mostly, above all of that, it was the way he said nothing but the truth.

Honesty was honesty, even if it was brutal.

All those things Ted had said, about Felicity and the way she had been treated and the genuine venom behind his words as he spoke: that was all true. It left Oliver with no choice but to face it, which was something he had avoided well for far too long. The truth finally being shoved in his face that way cut deep, hurting the billionaire in ways very few people had been able to, and Ted did it all with a vindictive smile.

Oliver didn't blame him. Ted was just angry on his friend's behalf, and the Arrow could never begrudge someone for protecting Felicity – it was the most important thing. The other man might have been cruel, but his anger was earned.

The Arrow was left feeling too many emotions to fully understand the exchange, so instead gritted his teeth as he left the Kord building, heading straight for the Foundry: he had work to do.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaannnddd aha, Ted and Oliver meet! Not the best of starts, but it's fun to write a good rivalry, which I think they would be. Oliver is stubborn to a fault, and Ted is so constantly happy or acting idiotic that his really explodes when he's angry. They both, however, care genuinely about Felicity. If you follow my tumblr, you'll know that my FC for Ted is Zach Levi. I mean, he _is_ Ted Kord. I will accept nothing different if DC ever gives him a TV show or movie.**


	5. Good friends, Bad habits

**Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or Blue Beetle. sorry about the gap between updates, this week has been the busiest of my life. Title comes from a song by the maine called 'free', who I saw on Tuesday - between that and having to go to the RSC on Thursday, I had no time to write! Enjoy anyway!**

* * *

**'Good friends, bad habits'**

As she got ready to leave in her apartment, Felicity was starting to wish she hadn't suggested going to Big Belly Burger. Yes, they were the best damn burgers in the city and of course she wanted to hang out with Ted while he was around – but there were just too many memories in that place.

There was a time all of those memories had been happy.

Thoughts of evenings there with Oliver and Diggle crossed her mind, from late-night runs before they went for a stake out to nights off where they sat and talked for hours, just the three of them. It was a place they could relax; there was no masks, no trouble, no responsibilities – just three people and some good food.

She had laughed there with her friends. Well, her friend. Diggle was always that, but if Oliver was telling the truth the other day . . . every smile had been faked. He never meant any of it. The thought made her mouth turn dry, the back of her throat like ash as she swallowed, trying to regain control. Felicity had decided as she walked out of lunch that afternoon, away from a real friend, that she was done with being sad over Oliver.

For days she had cried, she had tried to think a way around all of this – but there wasn't one. She had tried to do some good, but it was over now. While she still had hope, she had to put herself first for once and get out. Oliver had made it perfectly clear that she was replaceable: Felicity vowed to move on. They would be fine without her. And as for her . . . she'd survive.

For the others, their night life saving the city was a need – Diggle was a soldier, Sara was looking for redemption and Oliver was too damaged for anything else.

That had never been the case for Felicity. When she had signed up, it had been to help a friend – Walter. She had stayed for the friends she made, to help _them_. For Oliver and Diggle, so they didn't get hurt or caught. But when Deathstroke came to the city and Oliver changed, things weren't the same: they stopped joking in the Foundry, stopped laughing, and stopped being anything but soldiers in the mission to save the city.

Without that, Felicity had nothing left to fight for. Without them . . . she wasn't sure who she was supposed to be anymore. But maybe it was time to find out.

This city wasn't her hometown and she had lost everything she used to be in it. Seeing Ted today had made her realise that. Felicity knew she wasn't the person she was five years ago; in some ways she was better, in others . . . she had lost who she was. After spending years living for her friends, she knew making a life without them would be hard. But she had to do it, there had to be a way to start over.

Pulling a red jumper over her head and walking over to the mirror to pull her newly dried hair up into a ponytail, too tired to straighten it, she frowned at her reflection. The last few days had taken their toll on her – she looked tired, eyes more pronounced than usual behind her glasses; her face was paler.

Felicity sighed, dropping her hands to her sides. She had to get over this – staying as she was and watching her friends fade until they all hated each other wasn't an option, and neither was spending the rest of her life wallowing about it.

"You are okay," she said to herself, ignoring the way her voice shook. Curling her hands into fists, she tried again more determinedly, face set. "You_ are_ okay. You helped people, and you can still help people. You are doing the right thing."

That part was much harder to believe. Although she was sure leaving was best for her, before she cracked under the strain of too much pressure, Felicity still worried about how her team would fare without her. What if they needed her? Who was going to run their mission control from the Foundry now?

The blonde turned back to the mirror. Forcing a smile on her face, Felicity watched it waver until it died, leaving her with nothing. Being happy again would come later, she was sure; in fact, it already had in a way. Lunch with Ted today had been good. Maybe . . . maybe he was right. She needed a clean break, away from Starling and the Arrow and away from Oliver.

Resolving herself to at least considering his job offer, even if it meant moving to Chicago, Felicity reached for her phone as it rang, thinking it was just Ted again.

"Let me guess – you're going to be late?" she said, smile twisting her lips upwards as she turned to lean on her desk. The only light on in the apartment was the small lamp by her side, casting everything else into shadows – she didn't want to see some of the pictures framed on her shelves right now. They showed her and her boys in better times; it didn't help that she had to see them every day. Perhaps she would take them down tomorrow.

Diggle's voice replied, "Um, Felicity?"

She jumped as if she had been electrocuted, hiding her face in her hand with embarrassment, "Digg! I'm sorry; I thought it was someone else-"

"Relax, Felicity," he chuckled on the other end. "It's okay. I was just wondering if you're free tomorrow. I thought we could grab lunch or dinner, talk things over. I don't want us to lose touch."

"I . . . of course. I wouldn't let that happen either; you're my friend." Felicity bit her lip, thinking that Ted would just have to amuse himself for a day, her other friend came first this time. She had already left things badly with one friend, she didn't want to lose Diggle too – the thought of not seeing him every day was unbearable enough; letting them loose touch completely was unthinkable. "I have something to ask you about, too. I'd appreciate your opinion."

"Sounds serious, we'd better make it dinner and a drink afterwards."

"You're on."

"7pm okay? Burgers on me?"

"Perhaps we should go somewhere else," Felicity said quickly, trying to cover up her haste afterwards, "I mean - we go there all the time. It's not healthy."

"Chinese, then," Diggle proposed, but he could tell his friend was avoiding something. Whatever it was, he was sure to hear about it tomorrow. "Sara recommended a place a while back, I've been meaning to go – apparently the ribs are delicious."

"Perfect," Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. As she opened her mouth to continue, her door bell rang – Ted was there to pick her up. Cursing silently, she grabbed her bag, heading for the door and opening it, motioning for Ted to give her a minute to wrap up the call. "Listen, I've got to go. Are you going out tonight?"

The edge to her voice told Diggle she meant with the Arrow, so answered, "We're checking something out, but it's not likely to get messy. Don't you worry about me."

"Good. Stay safe, Digg – I'll hold you to buying dinner tomorrow."

"You too. Wherever you're going, I'm glad you're getting out. Look out for yourself as well."

"Bye," Felicity smiled, ending the call. Looking up, she found Ted waiting at the door for her still – while his eyes watched her, his mind was obviously elsewhere. She had caught him off guard. His face was brooding, angry even; his jaw was locked in place, eyes glazed but something dark lurking in them as if he was playing something over and over in his mind as she approached.

When she waved a hand in front of his face, Ted jumped and grinned, "Ready?"

"Sure," she answered slowly, worried about what could have caused that expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course. Just thinking, Felicity."

"O-kay, let's go then. And you can tell me all about whatever it is that's bothering you."

He shook his head at her, still grinning, "Am I that transparent?"

"As a window, Teddy, but that's alright. I like that about you."

* * *

Felicity's regret at her suggestion of restaurant doubled as they sat down and ordered that night. Her stomach knotted itself almost painfully, setting her on edge, hands fumbling with the menu. As if she needed one – she had been here enough times to have it memories.

"What are you having?" Ted asked, not seeming to notice her distraction as he looked through the menu thoughtfully. Truth be told, he was starving – board meetings were killer, that one especially. He needed some good grub and preferably a few drinks before the night was done. He looked up to find Felicity glancing around, "Felicity?"

"I'll just have my usual," she replied to the waitress who had drifted past, sending her a small smile. The girl nodded, taking Ted's order too before leaving them alone.

"Is something wrong?"

Felicity shook her head, forcing her mind elsewhere. The guilt she felt at being there with anyone but Oliver or Diggle was stupid, she told herself. It was just a diner.

"No, I'm good. So . . . what's this big thing on your mind?"

"I, er," Ted shifted uncomfortably, pulling at his collar. He dropped eye contact almost immediately, "here's the thing – Oliver showed up at my meeting today."

"He _what_?" Felicity said, voice jumping in volume. She was angry – but at Oliver, not Ted. The chances of the Arrow just showing up at his company the same day she met up with her old friend was too much of a coincidence. No doubt this was his way of keeping tabs on her, as if he had any right to do so. "What was he doing there?"

"Bailing out my company here in Starling, apparently," Ted replied, clearly as annoyed with the situation as she was. His frowned deepened, "I really didn't know he was going to be there, Felicity. Believe me when I say I would have told you if I had known-"

"I do," she said quickly, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. She moved forwards in her seat, interested now and considering calling Oliver to give him a piece of her mind. "Why would he want to bail out K.I? Why was he there?"

"I wish I knew. All I know is that he's giving us a ton of money, and I betrayed you by working with him – he's the manager for K.I in Starling now. I'm so sorry, I tried to get out of it but there was no other way."

In his defence, Ted managed to do a very good impression of a kicked puppy as he delivered the news, truly ashamed of himself. As he had spoken, he had picked up the napkin at his side and started tearing it, pulling it to pieces. His shoulders slumped, eyes still on the plain white table cloth as the acid-feeling which had been plaguing him all evening slowly ate away at his gut. Ted liked to think of himself as a good friend – in his mind, this definitely went against that. And he felt terrible because of it.

"Hey," Felicity shook her head strongly, reaching over to catch his hand and squeeze it. "Did you really think I'd be mad? Ted, please. You saved your company and a lot of people's jobs, who you work with doesn't matter to me."

"But it's _him_," he moaned, meeting her eyes. His own were wide and guilty, "he hurt you, Felicity. I should be punching him, not signing up to be his new business partner."

Felicity actually laughed at that. The sound was unexpected, bubbling up in her chest before she began to giggle, hand moving to cover her mouth as she really, truly laughed, much to the shock of her friend.

"Oh _Ted_," she giggled, patting him on the arm sympathetically, "you're too much."

He frowned, expression changing quickly from guilt to outrage, grin teasing the edges of his mouth. "Hey! I'm bearing my soul to you here!"

"And it's truly adorable."

"Felicity! I – I_ betrayed_ you," he spluttered, "stop laughing at me! I am a despicable human being."

"You're an idiot, I don't know about anything else," she snorted. Finally, Felicity managed to get her laughing under control, noticing the way her sides burned afterwards – and that it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. "I know you didn't do it to hurt me, Teddy. Business is business – no, don't interrupt – I formally forgive you for working with my ex-employer. So stop with the guilty face."

"But-"

"No buts," she chuckled, "and don't make the obvious joke. It's really okay."

"You're really not mad at me?" he asked, face scrunched up to one side. Ted's face had brightened considerably; he'd even stopped shredding the napkin, a nervous habit she had actually given him back in college. He had been with Felicity again for a day, and all the ticks that had worn away over time had come back as naturally as riding a bike. "I don't want you to feel hurt, either. I still hate the guy – I even had a subtle go at him at the end of the meeting."

Her smile froze, turning to concern, "you didn't . . ."

"I just told him that I had no intention of being friends with someone like him, and that I was coming to dinner with you tonight. The guy looked like I'd kicked him, actually. I said he was a jackass to you, basically, and to stay away – I hope you don't mind." Ted looked a little abashed again, "it's not that I don't think that you couldn't handle yourself – I know you can – but I just didn't want to see you hurt by him again."

"I . . . it's fine," she finally said, after a pregnant pause. Felicity worried that Oliver might suspect her of telling Ted too much, deciding she could get Diggle to pass along a message that she hadn't tomorrow. No, that was immature – she would just call Oliver later, sort this between them. She was still mad at him for getting involved anyway.

"Are you sure? Because you look a little angry."

"I'm not," Felicity promised, forcing a smile in her friend's direction. It really wasn't that hard, which surprised her. "Thank you for sticking up for me, Ted. I appreciate it."

It wasn't a lie. Ted had been overprotective of her for a long time – he trusted her to get things done, yeah, but he had also had a knack of fighting any guys who didn't treat her right in college. Apparently he never lost that big brother instinct.

They were interrupted by their drinks coming. Felicity found her mind wandering again, the gears ticking over too many things and once and causing too much smoke in her head for her to think clearly. Aware that she was sipping the beer she had ordered as they waited for their food – she had ordered her usual, too distracted to do much else – Felicity blindly pulled from the bottle, eyes unfocused.

As she looked around, the ghosts of happier moments here met her eyes everywhere she looked. There was the table she had met with Oliver what felt like a million years ago, the first time she came here – it had been raining outside. She remembered that. She and Diggle had stood at that very counter and saw the news breaking about crimes across the city too many times, having to run away to save the day straight away. And across from that was their 'usual' table, in the perfect position to watch both the door and the other diners, settling even Oliver's paranoia long enough to sit down in peace.

The corner of her lips twitched up, the figures of her and her friends fading as soon as she blinked. The illusion shattered, the noise of the kitchen rolled back in: gentle clinking of cutlery and people talking, the clatters and scrapes of any eating place. Memories erased, the scene regained its focus – Felicity blinked to find Ted watching her carefully, head tilted to one side.

"What was that face?" he asked, but not angrily – there was only patience in his expression. Felicity had no idea how long she had spaced out, but she was grateful that her best friend's first action was always to be kind.

"Just . . . a lot of memories in this place," she forced a smile onto her face as she shrugged, but knew it fizzled out too soon to convince anyone, least of all herself, that she was okay.

"Good ones?"

She looked up expecting to see a chance, but Ted was just waiting again. If she was ever going to talk to someone about this, Felicity knew it would be now – the sooner she got it out of her system, the better.

"Yeah," she nodded, hearing the tiny crack in her voice, "yeah, they were. I used to come here all the time with some friends of mine . . . with a man called John Diggle – and Oliver."

"Queen? That asshole?"

"He never used to be. For the last few years, when I was working for him, Oliver was kind to me. He did more for me than I could ever tell you. He and Diggle both did; they _were_ my friends, for a time. Digg still is." Felicity managed a real smile, then. "The stupid thing is about all of this is that I feel sad that it ended this way; I feel guilty for quitting. But I . . . I didn't have a choice, in the end. And sometimes I'm okay with it but then I come back here and-"

"Hey, it's okay." Ted tried to sooth her by taking her hand and rubbing it between his own, noticing the fresh tears springing up in her eyes, "I know it hurts to lose a friend. But you shouldn't feel guilty, not ever – we make the decisions we have to and live with the consequences as best we can. That's life." Images of Dan Garrett flashed across his mind, the friend he had lost in a very different way, as he tried to think of a way to make it better. He was still getting there himself. "You're not alone, Felicity. You still have this Diggle – and you still have me. It might not be much of a comfort, but whatever you need, you can come to me."

She smiled at him, tears drying in her eyes. She squeezed back tightly. There was nothing else to say, but her eyes told him the thank you her lips would never have to – this was what friends were for.

They ate after that, the conversation falling back to more stable ground. Talking about old friends they had or hadn't kept in touch with, sharing the little details of their lives for the past few years, remembering old jokes which in retrospect were better off left buried – it felt right. It was too easy, and they both appreciated that.

Once they were done, the hours had ticked away as the sky outside turned black, the diner closing around them when they finally left, walking out together.

"So," Ted said, keeping pace by her side naturally, "I have meetings in the day tomorrow, but I'm free on the night. Do you want to do this again?"

"I can't," she winced back. "That friend I told you about, John Diggle? We're going to dinner. I haven't spoken to him much since I quit, and I really don't want to leave it badly between us. He's a good guy; you'd like him."

"Then I'll have to try and bump into him before I leave," he replied, keen as ever to meet new people. Ted was a people-person at heart: he saw the best in everyone. Felicity should have known he would jump at the chance to make a new friend.

"You will – but not tomorrow, okay? I have a few things I really need to talk to him about alone."

"I get it," Ted held his hands up, "you need some alone time. Just don't be _lonely_, Felicity. I mean it."

"I know," she nodded, stopping at the intersection. Knowing his hotel was the other way, she swung her arms as she paused, biting her lip. Then she smiled, "that's what I have you for, right?"

"Damn straight," he agreed, grin catching on quickly. "But you're definitely seeing me again before I leave. And don't forget to think about-"

"The job, yes." Felicity rolled her eyes. "You only mentioned it, say, ten thousand or so times."

"Is that mockery, Smoak?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she replied, eyebrows jumping up. "I'll talk to Diggle about it, I swear. Goodnight, Dork."

"Nerd," he answered without thinking, winking at her as she turned and walked away.

Although she would never admit it, the huge smile which grew on Felicity's face as she turned her back never left her face for the entire walk home, and it was the small hope which helped her to sleep better that night than she had all week.

* * *

**A/N: I promise there shouldn't be a gap that long again. to the guest reviewer who asked - this is not a Ted x Felicity fic, this is a super dorky tech buddies Ted and Felicity fic. Non-romantic life partners. let me know what you think guys. **


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